The Keynote Address took place via Zoom on Day 1 of the conference, Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 4:30 PM EDT. View the recording below on YouTube.

Questions? Contact graduatecollege@drexel.edu.

The Drexel Emerging Graduate Scholars Conference is pleased to announce our 2020 keynote speaker:

Geneviève Dion

PI, Director, Center for Functional Fabrics and the Pennsylvania Fabric Discovery Center, Drexel University

The Adaptive Transdisciplinary Design System in Action: Make Masks @ Drexel

The Center for Functional Fabrics, under the direction of Geneviève Dion, is working on a COVID-19 emergency response producing new types of washable/reusable masks and respirators to be distributed through Drexel University College of Medicine. They are collaborating with Richard Hamilton, Chair of Emergency Medicine, on the design, fit, safety and form factor. As these are being produced, research continues to identify washable/reusable filters in collaboration with Drexel's Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department on filtration testing, Materials Science and Engineering Department, on potential filter materials, and Yury Gogotsi on anti-viral solutions for the masks.

Recent Media Coverage:

Drexel University working to fill critical need for COVID-19 masks and respirators
March 25, 2020
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Watch the Keynote Address

About Geneviève

PI, Director, Center for Functional Fabrics and the Pennsylvania Fabric Discovery Center, Drexel University
Full Professor, Design Department, Westphal College of Media Arts and Design
Affiliate Faculty, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering
Founder, Shima Seiki Haute Tech Lab

Genevieve Dion is a design scientist with extensive background in bespoke clothing and industrial design. She directs the Center for Functional Fabrics (CFF) at Drexel University and works closely with the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) Manufacturing Institute located in Cambridge, MA. CFF hosts the Pennsylvania Fabric Discovery Center (PA FDC), the first AFFOA hub outside Massachusetts.

Under her leadership, transdisciplinary teams investigate modular production and mass customization of 3D knit fabrication for the development of complex interconnected systems, fabrics that emit, transmit and communicate. These innovative "Textile and Garment Devices” combine new advanced materials and scalable production methods that integrate information, computation, software, sensing, and networking.

Dion’s research has received funding from NSF, NIH, Keck Futures and AFFOA. In 2014, Dion was named Fast Company's "Top 100 Most Creative People in Business" for her creative approach toward the design and fabrication of functional fabrics. Her design work is in the permanent collections of the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Watch a video about her story here